This invention relates to reed valves and more particularly to a reed valve assembly for application in a two stroke internal combustion engine.
Reed valves are often employed within fuel/air intake ports of two-cycle internal combustion engines. Typically, the valve consists of a reed cage with an inverted-V shape relative to the bolt flange (base member) and having valve seats and flexible reed petals. During the induction phase of operation of the engine, pressure difference across the valve causes the petals to flex away from the valve seats and allow flow of air through the valve. As the pressure difference drops, the valve tends to close. In operation, fluid dynamic effects result in the reed petals trying to adhere to the flow of air through the valve. Thus, in a configuration employing a single row of reed petals, the petals will tend to close when the rate of flow of air passing through the valve reduces. However, such closing may adversely affect the performance of the engine in which the valve is mounted.
Each petal is held in place over its valve seat via a machine screw or bolt on the downstream face of the reed cage. In the event of the screw coming loose during engine operation, such an arrangement might result in the screw being sucked into the engine cylinder.
It is often desirable to be able to adjust the opening characteristics of a reed valve in order to tune an engine to provide power over a different range of engine speed. However, adjustment and fine tuning beyond the factory setting has not typically been possible with conventional reed valves.